I must admit I’ve never heard of Lovetempo before but when you get something sent from JKriv and Aaron Dae’s Razor N Tape label, you better be ready for quality. This new offering on their imprint entitled ‘Lovetempo EP’ is no exception to the rule. As bassist for dance-punk outfit The Rapture, Mattie Safer cut his teeth in the music scene alongside a wave of now-legendary early 2000s NYC acts like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem and more – a time period recently immortalized in the documentary film ‘Meet Me In The Bathroom’. Fast-forward nearly two decades and Mattie has found the sweeter side of dance music as the current lead vocalist for slo-mo kings Poolside, and now he presents his solo Lovetempo project on Razor-N-Tape.
A chilled-out singer /songwriterly affair, the ‘lovetempo EP’ moves between organic laidback disco, modern bossa nova treatments, and Sade-esque grown-n-sexy jazz grooves. Hitting notes of both melancholy and positivity, Mattie’s plaintive vocals wind through all four of the original songs, delivering catchy and singable hooks. In fact it’s the slow disco grooves of tracks like ‘What To Do But Love You’ or ‘There Is No You’ which catch you by the very first listen. The grand uptempo track on this EP, ‘The Sun’ gets the essential makeover by French funker Yuksek as he does what he does best and takes the most uplifting tune of the pack into positively joyous hands-in-the-air territory with his stunning remix. Keinemusik’s Reznik links with his long-time collaborator Good Guy Mikesh as they take ‘The One’ straight to the club with a synthetic shifter of a remix offering distinct dancefloor moments. Nick Catchdubs turns on the E-funk with his take on ‘Turnaround’. Another wicked one!
4.5 out of 5
DISCO
Reviewed by MANNIX
